Ronald Langley Bloore, D.Litt LL. D. FRSC (May 29, 1925 – September 4, 2009) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

ist and teacher. He was a member of the Regina Five.

Education

Born in

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Bloore received a B.A. in art and archaeology from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1949. From 1949 to 1951, he studied art history and archaeology at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts. In 1953, he received a M.A. in art and archaeology from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. From 1951 to 1954, he was also an instructor in art and archaeology at Washington University. From 1955 to 1957, he studied at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Career

After completing his studies at the

, Bloore returned to Canada, and held a position as an instructor in art and archaeology at the

from 1957 to 1958. Moving to

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

, he was director at the Norman Mackenzie Gallery (today's

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; ) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds eight galleries totaling to of ...

) of Regina College and an instructor in art and archaeology at the Regina Campus of the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

from 1958 to 1966. While there, Bloore exhibited with Ken Lochhead, Art McKay, Ted Godwin and Douglas Morton in the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

's ''Five Painters from Regina'' show in 1961. The Regina Five, as it came to be called, lasted only a short time. Their work was more geometrically ordered than the painters in Toronto in Painters Eleven. But Bloore quarreled with McKay over "his" use of the circle and by 1964, however, the group had split up. Settling back in Toronto, he was director of art and a professor in the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Fine Arts at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

from 1966 to 1990. In his work, he concentrated on a white-on-white technique. which built on one of his own paintings of 1960, combined with his knowledge of non-Western cultures. In 1965 and 1966, he created ''White on White'', a mural for the entranceway of the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown, installed in 1967. It consists of layers of white oil paint in different shades, finishes and surfaces, and was conserved and re-installed in 2019. Bloore was also a writer, and brought the career of folk artist Jan Gerrit Wyers to critical attention, among other subjects.

Honours and awards

In 1967, Bloore was awarded the Centennial Medal and the Jubilee Medal. In 1972, he received the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award. In 1993, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

for being a "most accomplished abstract painter and educator, he has strongly influenced visual arts, particularly in Western Canada". In 1993, he also was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

degree from

and in 2001 an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree with the other members of the Regina Five from the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

. In 2007, he was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

References

External links

The Bloore Studio
is the painter's web site with hundreds of pages of images and texts. * University of Regina Archives and Special Collections, Ron Bloore Fonds: https://www.uregina.ca/library/services/archives/collections/art-architecture/bloore.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloore, Ron 1925 births 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 21st-century Canadian painters 2009 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Members of the Order of Canada People from Brampton Washington University in St. Louis alumni Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art Artists from Regina, Saskatchewan Painters from Ontario New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan Academic staff of York University Canadian muralists Canadian abstract artists Washington University in St. Louis faculty

Education

Career

Honours and awards

References

Further reading

External links